How the media might be contributing to candidate choice and political polarisation: perspectives on the 2019 presidential elections in Argentina

TOMAS ALVES SALGUEIRO; EMILIO RECART ZAPATA; PABLO NICOLÁS FERNÁNDEZ LARROSA

San Luis

Congreso; SAN 2023 Meeting; 2023

Political polarization is the extreme stances of groups viewing politics and society as adivision between “us” and “them”. It is induced by shared political/ideologicalrepresentations and emotional elements. Previous research has shown that repetition orassociation with positive content can induce the choice of certain faces. In the 2019Argentinean elections, we observed a significant correlation between the frequency ofcandidates’ mention in the media and their familiarity. Trust in them also correlatedsignificantly with the positive perception of them in news headlines. Both familiarity andtrust were explanatory variables for the voting probability. The present study assesseswhether familiarity and trust can be predictors of the vote, as well as analyzes votingcommunities in a cluster analysis associated with ideological self-perception or themedia outlets they consume to inform themselves. Our results show that both familiarityand trust predict the candidate chosen, being social variables of political interest to bemanipulated. We found key links between political ideology, media consumption, andelected candidates in voter population characterization. The media’s significant impacton promoting candidates and influencing their election has been demonstrated in pastelections, including the 2023 PASO. These mechanisms’ continued existence only servesto erode people’s freedoms, harming relationships between different groups and theoverall democratic system.